The invention relates to pads of non-woven fibers containing a solid core of soap, particularly for use in bathing the human body.
Since his very beginning, man has sought some means for cleansing his body. Ancient Romans and Greeks first soaked themselves in swimming pool-size baths contained in ornate bath houses and then scraped their bodies with metal or bone strigils to cleanse and stimulate their skin. From about the 18th century onward, Finnish people, while steaming in a sauna, beat themselves with birch twigs to stimulate circulation and cleanse their skin. Modern bathing involves applying soap, generally in bar form, while stimulating the skin with a washcloth or sponge.
It has been found to be somewhat awkward, however to apply soap with a washcloth or sponge since it involves the use of two separable articles, one being extremely slippery when wet and tending to slide from the user's hands quite easily. Wrapping the washcloth around the soap may be a temporary solution but it is not completely satisfactory. Similarly, making a pouch in the sponge to contain the bar of soap leaves the sponge permanently saturated with the soap and slimy after its initial use. Sewing a bar of soap between two plies of washcloth likewise produces an article that is permanently slimy after use.
Several U.S. patents disclose soap-containing, pad-like articles which may, at first, appear to satisfy the need described above but are generally intended for other uses, i.e., scouring pans, buffing, polishing, abrading, etc. and not suited for use in bathing the human body. For example, Brooks (U.S. Pat. No. 2,079,600) discloses a pad of metal fibers (and, possibly, non-metallic fibers having physical characteristics of metal fibers) impregnated with soap rather than containing a solid core of soap. Brooks' pads, however, besides being too harsh for use on human skin, would rapidly lose their entire loading of soap. Fischer (U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,355) likewise impregnates a fibrous cleaning pad with a detergent mixture, but includes corn meal, wood flour, or fine sawdust to slow the dissipation of soap from the pad during use. Such additives produce a soap composition which will leave an undesirable residue of these particles on the skin. Klein (U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,331) heat seals a bar of soap between two batts of non-woven thermoplastic fibers, producing an article which may be useful for scouring pans but which would have a harsh unattractive seam that would be stiff and scratchy and could injure the skin.